John Prine
John Edward Prine (10 October 1946 – 7 April 2020) was an American country folk singer-songwriter, known for an often humorous style of folk/country music with elements of protest and social commentary.
Song lyrics
[edit]The Missing Years (1991)
[edit]- All songs by John Prine unless otherwise noted.
- I wish you love - and happiness
I guess I wish - you all the best
I wish you don't - do like I do
And never fall in love with someone like you
Cause if you fell - just like I did
You'd probably walk around the block like a little kid
But kids don't know - they can only guess...- "All the Best"
- Kiss a little baby
Give the world a smile
If you take an inch
Give 'em back a mile
Cause if you lie like a rug
And you don't give a damn
You're never gonna be
As happy as a clam
So I'm sitting in a hotel
Trying to write a song
My head is just as empty
As the day is long.- "It’s a Big Old Goofy World"
- I can see the fire burning
Burning right behind your eyes
I can see the fire burning, baby
Burning right behind your eyes
You must've swallowed a candle
Or some other kind of surprise.- "Daddy’s Little Pumpkin" (Prine, Pat McLaughlin)
- It's a measure of treasure that gives me the pleasure
Of loving you the way I do
And you know I would gladly say I need your love badly
And bring these little things to you.
Cause you got gold
Gold inside of you
You got gold
Gold inside of you
Well I got some Gold inside me too- "You Got Gold" (Prine, Keith Sykes)
All them people killed him and he wasn't even sick
So come and gather around me my contemporary peers
And I'll tell you all the story of Jesus, the missing years
- Why just before last Christmas
My baby went away
And I find it real surprising
For myself to hear me say
That everything is cool
Everything's okay- "Everything is Cool"
- Oh my God, what have I gotten myself into?
I'm a human corkscrew and all my wine is blood
They're gonna kill me Mama. They don't like me Bud.
So Jesus went to Heaven and he went there awful quick
All them people killed him and he wasn't even sick
So come and gather around me my contemporary peers
And I'll tell you all the story of Jesus, the missing years- "Jesus the Missing Years"
And spot some hollow ancient eyes
Please don't just pass 'em by and stare
As if you didn't care, say, "Hello in there, hello"
To the wife and family
After serving in the conflict overseas.
And the time that he served,
Had shattered all his nerves,
And left a little shrapnel in his knees.
But the morphine eased the pain,
- All lyrics written by John Prine unless otherwise noted.
- Ya' know that old trees just grow stronger
And old rivers grow wilder every day
Old people just grow lonesome
Waiting for someone to say, "Hello in there, hello"...
So if you're walking down the street sometime
And spot some hollow ancient eyes
Please don't just pass 'em by and stare
As if you didn't care, say, "Hello in there, hello"- Hello in there
- Sam Stone came home
To the wife and family
After serving in the conflict overseas.
And the time that he served,
Had shattered all his nerves,
And left a little shrapnel in his knees.
But the morphine eased the pain,
And the grass grew round his brain,
And gave him all the confidence he lacked,
With a purple heart and a monkey on his back.
There's a hole in daddy's arm where all the money goes,
Jesus Christ died for nothin I suppose,
Little pitchers have big ears,
Don't stop and count the years,
Sweet songs never last too long on broken radios.
And they tortured the timber and stripped all the land
Well, they dug for their coal till the land was forsaken
Then they wrote it all down as the progress of man.
- Well, sometimes we'd travel right down the Green River
To the abandoned old prison down by Airdrie Hill
Where the air smelled like snakes and we'd shoot with our pistols
But empty pop bottles was all we would kill.
Then the coal company came with the world's largest shovel
And they tortured the timber and stripped all the land
Well, they dug for their coal till the land was forsaken
Then they wrote it all down as the progress of man.
- I know a man who's got a lot to lose
A pretty nice fella, kinda confused
Got muscles in his head that've never been used
He thinks he owns half of this town
He goes out drinkin' gets a big red nose
Beats his old lady with a rubber hose
Then he takes her out to dinner Buys her new clothes
That's the way that the world goes 'round
You're up one day, the next you're down
It's a half-an-inch of water and you think you're gonna drown
That's the way that the world goes 'round- "That's the Way That the World Goes Round"
Lost Dogs and Mixed Blessings (1995)
[edit]- Lyrics by John Prine unless otherwise noted.
- Many years later I found myself talking to this girl
Who was standing there with her back turned to Lake Marie
The wind was blowing especially through her hair
...Many years later we found ourselves in Canada
Trying to save our marriage and perhaps catch a few fish
Whatever seemed easier, that night she fell asleep in my arms
Humming the tune to, "Louie Louie"
Aah baby, we gotta go now - We were standing, Standing by peaceful waters
Standing by peaceful waters
Whoa, wah, oh wha, oh Whoa, wah, oh wha, oh- Peaceful Waters
- And the old men sit round the cracker barrels
The children hum their Christmas carols
The train tracks all run parallel
But they'll all meet up one day - On a dusty pew in a vestibule
Sits the Devil playing pocket pool
He's waiting for the next poor fool
Who forgot that it was Sunday- Who forgot that it was Sunday
- We are the lonely all together
All together we're all alone
We are the lonely all together
All together we're all alone - The cashier at the pump & pay
Knows everything's gonna be okay
The all night all right rent-a-cop
Is across the street at the donut shop
The waitress waits with whiskey sour
At the single mingle happy hour
The one man band begins to sing Accompanied by a drum machine- We Are the Lonely
- I am an old woman named after my mother
My old man is another child that's grown old
If dreams were lightning thunder was desire
This old house would have burnt down a long time ago
Make me an angel that flies from Montgom'ry
Make me a poster of an old rodeo
Just give me one thing that I can hold on to
To believe in this living is just a hard way to go
When I was a young girl well, I had me a cowboy
He weren't much to look at, just free rambling man
But that was a long time and no matter how I try
The years just flow by like a broken down dam.
- God bless this kitchen said the knick-knack chef
The dinner's almost ready Go and wash yourself
Jimmy's growing up now and Wanda's growing old
The time is growin' shorter the nights are long and cold
C'mon, baby, spend the night with me.
Sneaking in the closet and through the diary
Now, don't you know all he saw was all there was to see
The whole town saw Jimmy on the six o'clock news
His brains were on the sidewalk and blood was on his shoes- "The Six O'clock news"
Fair & Square (2005)
[edit]All lyrics written by John Prine unless otherwise noted.
- Caught a train from Alexandria
Just a broken man in flight
Running scared with his devils
Saying prayers all through the night
Oh but mercy can't find him
Not in the shadows where he calls
Forsaking all his better angels
That's how every empire falls- That's How Every Empire Falls (R.B. Morris)
- Padlock the door and board the windows
Put the people in the street
"It's just my job," he says "I'm sorry."
And draws a check, goes home to eat
But at night he tells his woman
"I know I hide behind the laws."
She says, "You're only taking orders."
That's how every empire falls.- That's How Every Empire Falls (R.B. Morris)
- A bitter wind blows through the country
A hard rain falls on the sea
If terror comes without a warning
There must be something we don't see
What fire begets this fire?
Like torches thrown into the straw
If no one asks, then no one answers
That's how every empire falls.- That's How Every Empire Falls (R.B. Morris)
- We made love In every way love can be made
And we made time Look like time Could never fade
Friday Night We both made the guitars hum
Saturday made Sunday feel Like it would never come
Gonna be a long Monday
Sittin' all alone on a mountain By a river that has no end- "Long Monday"(Prine, Keith Sykes)
- There's a girl in the white house
I don't even know her name
Her disheveled appearance
Speaks volumes of shame
It's an embarrassing situation
But a situation just the same
The way she walks on others
And never takes the blame
Upsets my constitution
Beyond its mortal frame.- "Taking a Walk" (Prine, Pat McLaughlin)
And the world's off your back
Some cowboy from Texas
Starts his own war in Iraq
- Some humans ain't human
Some people ain't kind
You open up their hearts
And here's what you'll find
A few frozen pizzas
Some ice cubes with hair
A broken Popsicle
You don't want to go there... - You're feeling your freedom
And the world's off your back
Some cowboy from Texas
Starts his own war in Iraq]]
Some humans ain't human
Some people ain't kind- Some Humans Ain't Human
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With your carousel of horses and your unforeseen forces,
you're running with the caravan of fools
Caravan of fools, caravan of fools
The Tree of Forgiveness (2018)
[edit]- The dark and distant drumming
The pounding of the hooves
The silence of everything that moves
Late at night you'll see them
decked out in shiny jewels
the coming of the caravan of fools- Caravan of Fools (co-written with Dan Auerbach and Pat McLaughlin)
- Love and devotion, deep as any ocean
don't play by anybody's rules
With your carousel of horses
and your unforeseen forces,
you're running with the caravan of fools
Caravan of fools, caravan of fools
You're running with the caravan of fools- Caravan of Fools (co-written with Dan Auerbach and Pat McLaughlin)
- I woke up this morning to a garbage truck
Looks like this ol' horseshoe's done run out of luck
If I came home, would you let me in?
Fry me some pork chops and forgive my sin?- Boundless Love (co-written with Dan Auerbach and Pat McLaughlin)
- Surround me with your boundless love
Confound me with your boundless love
I was drowning in the sea,
Lost as I could be
When you found me
With your boundless love- Boundless Love (co-written with Dan Auerbach and Pat McLaughlin)
- Sometimes my old heart is like a washing machine
It bounces around 'til my Soul comes clean
And when I'm clean and hung out to dry
I'm gonna make you laugh until you cry- Boundless Love (co-written with Dan Auerbach and Pat McLaughlin)
- If by chance I should find myself at risk of falling from this jagged cliff
I look below, and I look above
I'm surrounded by your boundless love- Boundless Love (co-written with Dan Auerbach and Pat McLaughlin)
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- Summer's end's around the bend just flyin'
The swimmin' suits are on the line just dryin'
I'll meet you there for our conversation
I hope I didn't ruin your whole vacationWell you never know how far from home you're feelin'
Until you've watched the shadows cross the ceilin'
Well I don't know, but I can see it snowin'
In your car the windows are wide open- Summer's End (co-written with Pat McLaughlin)
- When I get to heaven, I'm gonna shake God's hand
Thank him for more blessings than one man can stand
Then I'm gonna get a guitar and start a rock-n-roll band
Check into a swell hotel, ain't the afterlife grand?- "When I Get to Heaven" · Live performance on Austin City Limits · Lyric video
I Remember Everything (2020)
[edit](John's last recording before he died) (Youtube recording)
- I've been down this road before
I remember every tree
Every single blade of grass
Holds a special place for me
And I remember every town
And every hotel room
Every song I ever sang
On a guitar out of tune
- I remember everything
Things I can't forget
The way you turned and smiled on me
On the night that we first met
And I remember every night
Your ocean eyes of blue
How I miss you in the morning light
Like roses miss the dew
